Tipper lay on her bed, staring up at the
ceiling. Overhead were posters, many, many posters, all of cute guys she
would never meet. Movie stars. TV stars. Music stars. Even ones she never
heard of that she simply liked the looks of when she saw their poster at
the shop in the mall. Even cartoon guys. *sigh!* "I wish
I could have somebody real in my life, not just pretend", she murmured
sadly. "My life is a mess. If somebody did a chick flick of my personal
life they'd have to do a rewrite to make it a horror show instead. 'I Know
What You Didn't Do Last Summer!' (You didn't have a decent date. You're
pathetic.)" Tipper
rolled over and stretched her legs out over the edge of the bed. "Not such
awful legs", she whispered. "I don't look that bad, do I?" She trotted over to the wall mirror
by her dresser. "Nope, not bad." She stretched her arms overhead and did
a pirouette. "I just look like a cute kid. A cute young clean-cut innocent
kid. Hmmm..." She struck
a pose, sticking out her hips, putting on a slight sneer. "Yeh, that's
more like it! Who gets all the action around here? Blue! And she's not
young or innocent or clean cut at all! I'll give myself an image enhancement." With that
Tipper wheedled a trip to the mall ("need school clothes') and snuck some
risque items into the bottom of the bag. That evening she put on the fake
tattoo, torn jeans, heavy weird looking earrings, studded gauntlet and
leather vest over a T-top with a picture of some punk band she'd never
heard of, and quietly made her way downtown to the clubs. She didn't
get far. "ID?" said a big guy at the door. "She tried
to bluff: "Oh you know me, I've been here hunderds of times." "No way
have you been here even once, kid. What are you tryin' to pull? You look
like you're on your way to a costume party. Beat it before I call the cops." After the
same reception a two other spots. Tipper hung her head and slunk home.
"I'm hopeless" she moaned. 'A dumb kid nobody takes seriously. What a life." Sneaking
back in her open window, she went to the mirror again. "I don't get it.
What's wrong with this picture? Nobody would card Blue if she walked in
like this. What's she got that I haven't got?" Then a
wicked gleam came into the girl's eyes. "Or if I haven't got it, I could
get it! Mwaahahaha!" Next evening,
Tipper pulled out a bag of purloined supplies.
Fake fur. Hair extensions. Dye- blue and yellow. "I'll get ready now and
go out to the park at sunup before anybody else is awake. Tomorrow's Saturday;
I'll see if I can pick somebody up at MegaBurgerz. I shouldn't have any
trouble meeting guys now- as Blue!" Dawn came
awfully early. A bleary-eyed Tipper crawled out the window again and cautious
made her way to the park, keeping to the shadows when she could. As she
sat on a bench, she could feel eyes on her. Male eyes. Males in cars. Males
walking buy. Young ones, but old ones too. Yecchh! It was creepy. "I'm outta
here" she said aloud. "This place is too public. I'll just hang around
the shops until the burger joint opens." But hanging
around wasn't that easy. Her reflection in the windows looked weird. Oh,
her faux-fur blue tail was wonderful. She seemed to have all her
fur in the right places. But it wasn't as much fun as she thought. People
weren't seeing her, they were seeing someone else, a stranger. Half her
and half Blue. "Blooper, that's who I am", she moaned. What a
relief when the doors opened and she went inside. She got a drink and sat
by herself. People walking in seemed to notice her- or was it her enhancements?
Feeling uncomfortable again, she walked up to the counter. "Gimmee a super
egg cheese ham bagel thingee" she said. But the girl at the counter replied,
"What's up, Blue? You never eat that. You say it's bad for your figure."
"People change", muttered Blooper, as she took her carbohydrate bomb back
to her table. Suddenly
a guy came over. He was tall, and muscular, bronze all over, with bright,
deep-set eyes and an air of confidence. He was wonderful. He gestured to
the seat opposite her. "Waiting for someone?" he asked. "Ulp! Imean, no!
Here, take a load off. (What am I saying?)" "You look
familiar. Have we met?" he asked. "I truly
doubt it",grinned Blooper. "I'm new
here myself, just started at the Community College." "Yeh, well,
I plan to go there next year", she lied. They talked
awhile and then he asked if he could drive her home. She agreed but gave
him a phony address. Once they
got to "her house", he drove around the block and stopped. "Hey, what are
you doing?" Blooper squeaked. "Oh, come on baby, nobody dreasses like you
in the early AM if they're not looking for something. And I think I've
got what you're looking for." With that, he put his arm around her shoulder
and pulled her to him roughly.
"Halp! Police" yelled Blooper in a very non-senior class way, and bolted
from the car, running straight for home. She never noticed the stranger
behind her as he started to chuckle and then laughed out loud, laughing
until the tears came down his handsome cheeks. *Knock!Knock!*
"Tip! Are you still in bed?" It was Snickers. "Go 'way." "Tip, sis,
we need to talk." "It's open." But when
Snickers entered she only saw a shapeless blob heddled under the blankets. "I thought
I'd beter explain". Sitting on the edge of the bed, Snickers said "Somebody
called Blue's house this morning, saying she was in the park before daybreak
and did her folks know about it. Well, she called me, all irate, saying
I was setting her up with some prank but I said 'No, not me, but maybe
Tip knows something' so I went to your room and you were gone and the window
was open. I'm not that dumb. I saw the supplies you stuffed under the bed.
What were you thinking? You could have been killed! Or worse!" "I almost
was", sniffled the blankets. "Or worse, I mean. This guy...*sniff!snorkle!*" "Tipper,
that was an acquaintance of mine that I got hold of to set you up and teach
you a lesson. I hope you learned it, too." "Waaaaah!!!" "What now?" "Oh, I've
learned my lesson sis, beleive me! But how can I go back to school? The
dye didn't wash out the way it said it would- I'm bright red! And the fur
I glued on my tail didn't wash out the way they said it would- I had to
shave it! How can I ever go back to school?" Snickers
gently pulled back the covers. There was a very bright red Tipper, a real
traffic-stooper. Her bare tail looked very thin and mouselike. Stifling
a laugh, Snick said "Looks like we'll have to use some more fur and dye
to get you back to 'normal'- whatever that is! or maybe I could hook
you up with a nice 15-year old muskrat?" With that,
Tipper snarled and bopped her sister with a pillow. Snickers
responded in kind, of course. There's
nothing like a good hard pillow fight between friends to make a cat feel
better!